The
Cambridge Subway is the fastest local rapid transit line in America. The stretch
from Park Street to Harvard Square, a bit under four miles, is done in about
seven and a half minutes when traffic is not heavy. In the “straightaway”
between Kendall Station and the curve under Lafayette Square, train speed
reaches over 45 miles per hour. The ride, however, is smooth enough that
passengers do not get the sensation of extraordinary speed. This is in notable
contrast to New York, where subway cars are so old that they give an earthquake
sensation, and passengers on slow trains think they are racing along.

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On the continent of North America there is just one natural east-and-west
transcontinental route. The Mohawk Valley is the only convenient breach in the
eastern mountain range (except the St. Lawrence River, heading much farther
north); the only convenient pass through the Rockies is along the same line; and
so is the narrow space between Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley. This natural
trail, a main line of transcontinental communication, has been used by Indian
runners, by covered wagons, by stage coaches, by railroads and by buses, with
little alteration. Great cities such as Albany, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland,
Chicago, Omaha, and Salt Lake have grown up in its path. The western terminal
is at San Francisco Bay; the east end of the trail is on the Mishawum peninsula
(now Charlestown), and is approximately marked by City Square in that section of
Boston.

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That Libyan town of Derna, that has been figuring so much in war news of late,
has a Boston street named after it. The place was captured in 1804 by an
American expedition which set out over the desert from Alexandria with a
claimant to the Tripolitan throne. Having set him up, America was able to
conclude a treaty ending Tripolitan polcy―and held on to the port of Derna for
over ten years. The street in back if the State House commemorates these
events―but, the way it is pronounced, the street name Derne Street sounds like
swearing.

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Boston has nearly twice as many local transit routes, in relation to its
population, than any other large city in America.